Mike Whaley: Paradis gained despite the pain

Saturday

Mar 3, 2012 at 3:15 AM

The pain never went away. True to form, the feisty Katie Paradis refused to let it get to her.

The University of Southern Maine senior forward finished up her college hockey career last Saturday in bittersweet fashion. The No. 6 Huskies played at No. 3 New England College in the ECAC Women's East Championship Tournament quarterfinals and lost 3-2 in double overtime, the longest game in program history. Paradis had two assists in the loss, her last collegiate game, including her 100th and 101st career points.

"I'd trade those points for a win," she said. "It was very physical and fast paced. One of the most physical games I've played in four years. It was long, tiring and stressful."

It was also suddenly over.

Paradis and her coach, John Lauziere, felt USM dominated both overtimes, but couldn't net the go-ahead goal.

"It was looking like we were heading into a third overtime," Lauziere said. "You never know. They got a shot on net and it went in."

USM went 7-15-4 and Paradis, a 2008 Spaulding High School graduate, led the team in goals (6) and points (12) in a season where the Huskies struggled to score. Paradis struggled to some degree as well. Having played through the pain of a shoulder injury for her first three seasons, the shoulder finally came around and then she went and broke her wrist in the second game of the season. She played the rest of the way in a cast.

"It wasn't too bad because it was my bottom hand. It wasn't terrible," she said. "But it hindered a lot of things I like to do on the ice."

Before her freshman season, she tore the labrum in her shoulder, played through the pain until the season was over. She had surgery and the long rehabilitation process that followed was unsuccessful until recently when the shoulder started to feel better.

"I played four years and never a healthy game," Paradis said. One hundred and five games to be exact.

Statistically speaking, Paradis' best seasons were her first two when she teamed up with Danielle Ward, who transferred to UMaine after two years, on an electric line that led the Huskies to a 14-9-4 season in Paradis' freshman year. She had 16 goals and 16 assists that first year and 12 goals and 21 assists as a sophomore. She is second all-time at USM in career points, assists (60) and game played. She is third in career goals with 41.

Lauziere compared the duo to the two great Finnish NHL players, Jari Kurri and Teemu Selanne.

"That was the best line in the ECAC," he said of the 2009-10 season when Paradis and Ward were aligned with Kailey Bubier to give the Huskies a high-octane line. "They were all over 20 points."

Lauziere recruited Paradis, watching her play since she was a junior in high school with her team the Seacoast Lightning. He said he likes smaller players (Paradis stands just five-feet tall). He liked her vision on the ice, her skill level and puck protection, and her competitive nature.

"The little players fit our style of play," he said. "She came in and right off she started on fire and didn't slow down. She basically played hurt all four years. She played through pain — tough kid.

Paradis added, she thought getting to 100 points was "pretty cool." Something not many players get to achieve (she's just the third at USM). She said that if not for Ward on her line those first two years, there's no way she gets to 100 points. "I credit her with most of my points," said Paradis, a sports management major.

A scrappy player, Paradis described herself as a skater who isn't the fastest kid on the ice. "When I work hard things happen," she said.

She's played hockey since she was 5, and the sport has been a passion for her for 16 years. "When I step on the ice it lets me get away from everything else for a while," Paradis added. "I couldn't see myself playing anything else."

Mike Whaley is the sports editor for Foster's Daily Democrat and the Rochester Times. He can be reached at mwhaley@fosters.com.